Indy Education: Inside the Washoe County School District's only bilingual high school program

Good morning and welcome to Indy education newsletter. I'm Rocio Hernandez, The Nevada Independents K-12 Education Reporter.

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Short messages

🏫 New support center for victims of child trafficking, which also includes the school – St. Jude's Ranch for Children in Boulder City celebrated the grand opening Wednesday of its new Healing Center, Southern Nevada's only residential treatment center for children who have been victims of sex trafficking. According to its website, it is one of the few in the country dedicated to helping children go from victim to survivor. The $30 million center not only offers housing, but also a school in partnership with the Clark County School District.
Kevin McPartlin, CCSD assistant superintendent, said the school will offer online learning options and flexibility if students are having a tough day.

School Spotlight

Wooster High School's new bilingual program introduces students to the Spanish language

As a teenager, Rene Flores didn't like speaking Spanish.

He knew the bare essentials of having small conversations in Spanish with his parents at their home in Reno, but talking to his cousins ​​from El Salvador was much more difficult.

“I just couldn’t do it,” he said. “I was just embarrassed that I had an accent, or I was just corrected a lot.”

Today, the former Wooster High School math teacher is helping students become more comfortable using Spanish as part of the school's new bilingual education program, which officially launched this school year. It is the only program of its kind offered at the high school level in the Washoe County School District.

In addition to science, English language arts, physical education and elective courses in English, the program also includes courses in algebra and geometry, history and Spanish classes in Spanish. This year, approximately 120 first- and second-semester students are enrolled in the courses.

Next year, Wooster plans to offer a world history Spanish course for 10th graders and is considering what electives it can offer for 11th and 12th graders, said David Kitchin, principal of Wooster High School.

The bilingual education program builds on the school's existing International Baccalaureate Spanish program, which offers college-level Spanish courses.

The new bilingual courses give students — including those who are learning Spanish as a second language and those who grew up in a Spanish-speaking household but want to improve their language skills — more time to immerse themselves in the language and learn new terms that they don't use in everyday conversations .

This gives newcomers from Spanish-speaking countries the opportunity to continue learning in their native language and maintain their Spanish skills while adjusting to the English language.

Kitchin said he came up with the idea for the program while observing a student from Guatemala who was struggling in her geometry class, not because of the concepts, but because she had trouble with English vocabulary. However, he wanted the classes to accommodate both native speakers and students learning Spanish as a second language.

This is Flores' first time teaching in Spanish, so the program is as much a learning experience for him as it is for his students.

At the beginning of the program, he said the students and even himself were a little hesitant about speaking Spanish throughout the class. But over time, he said, they became much more comfortable and patient with themselves when they didn't know how to say something in Spanish.

He's noticed that the courses have helped new students come out of their shells.

“In a normal English class, they're very quiet, shy and timid and … they just try not to stand out,” he said. “In here they’re just out and about.”

The class was also a fun challenge for Flores, who is in his 14th year of teaching. He said teaching bilingual geometry gave him the same butterflies he felt as a new teacher.

“It added more passion and life to my career,” Flores said.

Do you have a student or staff member you would like us to feature in the next edition of School Spotlight? Let me know your nominations below (email protected).

Reading tasks

Report: Nevada's new education funding formula 'a major step forward,' but funding needs remain

School funding is still well below what experts say is needed to ensure good outcomes, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Guinn Center on the new K-12 education funding formula approved in 2019.

IndyFest 2024: A tense debate over whether Nevada scholarships are vouchers

In a 45 minute conversation during The Nevada IndependentAt the annual conference, panelists discussed the Opportunity Scholarship Program, the performance of the Clark County School District and the best ways to meet the needs of Nevada's students.

UNLV Associate Dean Appointed to Clark County School Board

The Clark County School Board voted 4-2 Wednesday to appoint Nakia Jackson-Hale, an associate dean of the UNLV School of Nursing, to the vacant District B position.

Additional credit

Of the Reno Gazette Journal: Washoe school trustee Alex Woodley says he will not resign from the board over the sexting scandal

Out of The 74th: Culture wars cost schools an estimated $3.2 billion last year and impacted student services

Events

🍎 State Board of Education Meeting – Wednesday, November 6, 2 p.m

The agenda will include a summary of the board's survey results on school start times across the state, results of Clark County School District employee exit surveys and an update on chronic absenteeism across the districts.

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